Roots under house? ? ?

We have a spruce or fir tree which seems to have come up on its own, about
10 inches from the foundation of our house. (Before we got here.) At first
I didn't pay much attention, but now it's a good 30 feet tall and the base
trunk is around 5 inches in diameter.
Is this something that endangers the foundation -- as tree roots often lift
up sidewalks?

doubtful, although it can attack sewer lines,
before you cut it down, mature trees add home value, shade in summer,
and fir trees in winter break the wind.
this tree is likely saving you energy.
have lots of friends with fir trees around their home and no
foundation troubles.
just dont let branches touch roof, in wind they can damage shingles

Depends on how deep and solid your foundation is. If you are on a
shallow crawl or slab, yeah, it could do damage. A basement, less
likely, unless it bows the wall in.
But in general, 10" from the house is way too close, for a lot of
reasons. I'd cut it down. I know, I hate to kill trees too, but
sometimes there is no other practical choice. Your insurance agent will
agree with me.
--
aem sends...

Yeah; cut it down. Plant another fir some 6 to 10 feet from the foundation to
get your shade.
I had a volunteer poplar (they grow fast) by a deck - grew to 30 feet quickly.
Shallow-rooted, a tropical storm bent it over - I got it removed before it fell
on someone.
But I had enjoyed its shade and its branches close to the deck, so I planted a
maple farther out for its eventual shade. That was 8 years ago - glad I did
that.
Banty

Without seeing it and not knowing what kind of foundation you have I'd
have to say I doubt it would damage the foundation.
What it *will* do is drip pitch on your siding, drop needles in your
gutters, large branches will attack your shingles, and then when it
is too big to cut down without great expense, it will blow down in a
wind/ice storm and do $50,000 worth of damage to your house.
I'd get rid of this one while it will only cost you a couple hours and
a few tears. Plant another about 20 feet from the house as a
memorial to the 'strong volunteer.'
Jim

hey if you want to pay higher heating and cooling bills feel free.
farmers usaed to plant fir trees in a row, from where the prevailing
winds came to lessen winter cold..........
if you have the extra bucks for higher utilty bills mind paying
mine?:)

hey if you want to pay higher heating and cooling bills feel free.
farmers usaed to plant fir trees in a row, from where the prevailing
winds came to lessen winter cold..........
if you have the extra bucks for higher utilty bills mind paying
mine?:)
Farmers didn't plant windbreaks 10 inches off of the house

Preaching to the choir here, hallerb. We all love our trees, and fully
understand the benefits of shade and breaking wind. (so to speak.) But
10" from the house is just too damn close. The wall and roof right there
will always be damp and prone to mold, moss, and rot. It will clog the
gutters, and provide a great highway for animals to get on the roof. And
when the wind blows, it will do a job on the siding and shingles. A
strong storm or heavy snow load could result in damage to the overhangs,
eaves, etc. BTDT on my mother and grandmother's houses- they planted
where the then-tiny balled trees looked right, and never considered the
future. 15-20 years later, me and my brother got a lot of chainsaw
practice, and a lot of digging planting the replacements where they
should have gone in the first place.
--
aem sends...

Years ago I bought a house with a number of 100 foot tall evergreens around
it. The largest one was about two feet off of the foundation and cutting it
down was one of my first projects. A few years later, we had a freak mini
tornado pass by and seven of these trees snapped in half. Fortunately none
were close enough to the house to hit it. I certainly can't predict what
would have happened to the one I cut down, but I sure was glad that I had.

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